Hope for the Socially Awkward
by julian12465
Summary: Neil's more torn up about Erin and his insecurities than he's let on. Luckily, cool people always have your back. Oneshot.


It was early morning- so early enough that the sun had yet to come up. Neil had long since finished the dance, his altercation with Erin still lingering in his head.

"Why did it have to end like this?" He pondered, more hurt from the interaction than he'd let on. Frustration building, he threw his leftover punch onto the ground with as much force he could muster. Looking at his skinny arms, he laughed morosely at his inadequacy.

"Like a loser like me could ever score a date... The hell was I thinking, forgetting just how little I actually matter to anyone?" He spoke, his voice getting angrier and louder with each and every word.

"Max and Nikki only ever use me as a springboard for their own shenanigans, and nobody else at the camp will even give me a second glance. Stupid fucking camp. Nothing's changed at all since I came here!" His voice had died down to a shaky whisper as he slumped down the tree he'd been leaning on, tears running down his face? How pathetic, to be this affected by a rejection from a girl who'd probably forgotten his name by now. Weak in body and heart, he really was a-

"Oh, there you are, Neil." Ered waved casually as she strode up to Neil's makeshift hiding spot. Not expecting company, Neil jumped with a girlish yelp and scrambled to erase any evidence of vulnerability.

"E-Ered? What are you doing here? N-not that I mind or anything, I just- you know, didn't think you'd bother coming here since you're so cool and I'm so... well, *not* that." Neil trailed off, figuring he probably should just shut up before he made things worse. Perplexingly, the blonde standing before him laughed his awkwardness off with a nostalgic gleam in her eyes.

"It's cool. I'm just wondering how my advice worked out for you." Neil blinked twice. Of course. The party. The dance. The fight...

'How the hell do you think it went!?' Was what he wanted to say, but that wasn't fair to her when she was just trying her best to help him out and it was his fault for reaching for the stars to begin with. He'd put on a brave face instead- it was the least could do to repay her.

"Eh, landed a _sweet_ dance with that girl I told you about. You were right, Ered! I was totally overthinking things! As soon as I started 'going with the flow,' everything went pretty well!" He bragged with false confidence, trying to sound as pleased with her advice as possible. Neil was a terrible actor, being socially inept and all, so it was very fortunate that Ered was too easygoing to pay enough attention to notice.

"Sweet. So, where is she?" Ered questioned, looking around as if she might've missed her. Neil took a moment to internally laugh at that. As cool as Ered made herself out to be, even someone like her must be as hyper-aware of her flaws as him to assume that she'd just talk past a person without noticing. It was... comforting.

After all, if the top of the social hierarchy has substantial flaws, then that could only mean that social aptitude wasn't everything, right?

"O-oh, well, she turned in for the night. Apparently she's not in the best shape so she went to catch some z's as soon as our dance was over." Ered raised a brow as if to say 'there's someone in worse shape than you?' but decided not to voice her doubts. She could tell from Neil's sweat that he knew as much as she did just how shitty that excuse was, but everyone had secrets. Ered could respect that.

"Cool. I'm glad everything worked out for you, Neil. And hey, any time you need some advice, you know where to find me." With a wink and a quick skateboard trick that Neil couldn't identify, Ered was gone. Neil took a moment to think about what just happened before looking up at the moonlit sky and cracking a small, tentative smile.

"I guess there _are_ some people that are worth getting to know at this damned camp." Wiping away one final tear, Neil headed back to his room to get some sleep and to try to forget everything that happened this past day.

Well... almost everything.

~_Fin_

**A/N:** So, I was playing "The Most Dangerous Writing App" right after I saw the latest episode of CampCamp and this was the result. I started out melancholy as is my usual habit before defaulting to my two favorite characters(aside from Max) in the show once I started running out of time. Hope y'all enjoyed this little short! :D


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